For the past 60 years, the Maltese Islands have been enjoying the services and produce provided by the local cooperatives. So it is of no surprise that their performance sometimes goes unnoticed since most people take them for granted. It is the cooperatives that provide us with the daily fresh bread, milk, vegetables, fruits, meat and fish.

Today we have just over 60 cooperatives with around 5,000 members. Sixty years ago the cooperatives were only those from the agricultural sector since they were the solution to combat the shortages of foodstuffs after World War II. But in recent years there was a strong diversification and a good number of workers decided to go for the cooperative model. Among them we find the newly- and by now well-established cooperatives in the fields of transport and towing, port workers, financial services, media and advertising, pharmacists, the university and MCAST students.

The growth of cooperatives has shown that it is an important factor for a full economic, social and cultural development. There are still many fields in which cooperatives can operate. For this purpose, apart from the knowledge delivered during the Scoops Project in secondary schools, the Cooperatives Board has been focusing its attention on tertiary students.

Among the well-established cooperatives which have been operating for a good number of years, there are some success stories which are proof enough that the cooperative model provides a good example of how a team of workers can work together. According to the Cooperatives Act of 2001, five persons is a big enough number to form a cooperative. In spite of this, most of the cooperatives are made up of 10 and others of even up to 300 or more members.

This year the Koperattiva Produtturi tal-Halib (KPH) is celebrating the 50th anniversary since herdsmen teamed up in 1958.

In those days they used to sell the milk collectively to the then Milk Marketing Undertaking, but in the 1960s they decided to invest in a feedmill. In so doing, the cooperative was able to manufacture and produce its own fodder for the animal herds and did not have to rely on other importers. So the herdsmen improved their income since the cooperative’s prices for the fodder were much cheaper.

During the past 20 years, the KPH concentrated on the sales of milk and milk products by investing in the Malta Dairy Products Ltd which produces and distributes for sale products under the Benna brand name.

There are similar success stories such as those obtained by the Koperattiva ta’ Min Irabbi l-Majjal, Outlook Management and Communications Cooperative, Mediacoop and others. In fact, the yearly turnover of the Maltese cooperatives is roughly around e58.5 million.

On a different scale, Koperattiva Kummerc Gust (KKG) registered in 1996 has a success story with its achievements over the past 12 years. Formed by a number of volunteers, this cooperative is basically a non-profit enterprise aimed at helping third-world countries to sell their products at a reasonable price and free from the manipulation of established entrepreneurs. In order to justify the means, the KKG opened an outlet shop named ARKA in St Paul Street, Valletta.

But what is the secret formula behind the creation of this world movement which has penetrated the business sector everywhere? It is the system by which the cooperative model is put into practice in the most democratic way, where every member has equal rights in all decisions. So, all the members who in fact are the grassroots of the enterprise and can easily identify all possibilities are free to plan the most effective strategies to achieve their goals.

Every year, on the first Saturday of July, the representatives of the local cooperatives get together to celebrate the International Cooperatives Day. The purpose of this meeting is to stimulate the members to know each other and at the same time have the opportunity to exchange ideas. During the seminar held on this occasion, the members try to raise and discuss the current problems and check on systems for more cooperation. At the same time, they create a forum in which all the members can reflect on their performance, and try to find the best way forward. This is very useful not to repeat past mistakes by discussing together the best way for a better future.

Article provided by the Office of the Cooperatives Board

www.coopsboard.org